Nobody ever wants receipts, they are the unwelcome stranger occupying our wallets where money could be. In the US alone over 250 million gallons of oil, 10 million trees and 1 billion gallons of water are consumed annually to produce receipts. That is staggering. Especially when receipts can so easily be transferred online (similar to money). Many companies offer receipts by email, but this is often avoided as this would lead to spam emails from the company in question.

Figure 1. Coffee receipts. (Jeen, 2014)

Another big environmental issue around receipts is bisphenol A (BPA). Receipt paper is often coated in this chemical and can enter our bodies quickly through contact (absorbed through the skin). So simply touching receipts has direct impacts on our body! BPA contact has been linked to fertility problems, male importance and heart disease among other issue – as if we needed more reasons to avoid receipts!